Guilt
by JayBirds
Summary: -AU- I slept with my boss last night. Okay, I didn't exactly sleep with him, it mostly involved more of making out, hickies, and whisperings of how beautiful I was sensually into my ear, then… passing out on top of me. It wouldn't have been bad if there wasn't something dangling in the way of my slutty actions. Ichigo Kurosaki was a married man.


I slept with my boss last night.

Okay, I didn't exactly sleep with him, it mostly involved more of making out, hickies, and whisperings of how beautiful I was sensually into my ear, then… passing out on top of me. He still had his pants on -unzipped- and I was still in my underwear, so there was no mistake in thinking that I'd slept with him. In fact, I remember everything that happened last night. I'd arrived late to the party celebrating our new contract with the Bount organization that specialized in modeling (and building) hotel layouts. It was a big breakthrough for our company. Everyone was already drunk, or almost getting there, and before I knew it I'd found myself competing with one of my good friends, Rengi Abarai, in who-can-down-the-most-shots-in-half-an-hour without puking. Turned out Rengi was all talk.

By then, I was pretty drunk. My rational thinking was zero, but I still had a sense of what was going on around me, believe it or not. Of course, around the time I'd watched my drinking buddy make a mad dash toward the bathroom, the seat he was previously occupying at the bar was replaced with another. As you'd probably already guessed, that was my boss...

Ichigo Kurosaki.

He was a well-rounded boss. Gentle, considerate, demanding if necessary, serious if the situation calls for it, and easy-going when the time was right.

When I'd woke up this morning to find him sleeping soundly next to me, half naked, I'd snuck out of his apartment in hopes of not waking him. I didn't, thank god.

Of course this was where I found myself next, looking in my mirror in disbelief and in shame, brushing my teeth lazily as my thoughts raced over what I'd done last night.

_'I'm a slut. A drunk slut that can't control herself when she's drunk,'_ I repeated over and over in my head as I got ready for work.

It wouldn't have been bad if there wasn't something dangling in the way of my slutty actions.

Ichigo Kurosaki was a married man.

* * *

"You look like shi- crap, I mean," Renji, my best friend since childhood, and close coworker, proclaimed to me while leaning against the open wall next to my desk. He had an eerie smile on his face which, in return, only made me think he suspected what had happened to me last night.

Dammit.

Everything was actually going along like normal today - at least, until Rengi decided to make himself known to me in the early morning hours. When I'd walked in, not one person was staring at me like I'd thought they would. Everyone was going about their business like any other day. Mr. Kurosaki was in a business meeting when I'd arrived, which I was thankful for, but that meeting was only drawing out the inevitable. I was going to have to face him eventually, I was his personal secretary after all.

My life sucked.

I shook my head at Renji and sighed mostly to myself. "Well, I did wake up with a nasty hangover if that's what you are referring to." That, of course, made him snicker. Before I knew it, though, I felt something pinching my cheek in a very childish manner.

"You left the party pretty early," Renji said with playful accusation, his fingers still pinching my cheek. "Where did you go? Had a little too much fun with a certain someone?" My cheeks instantly burned a bright red. I pushed his hands away and looked straight down at my desk, not wanting to make eye contact with him as I fiddled with some paper work in front of me.

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous!" Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the flustered shake out of my trembling voice.

Renji laughed, snaking his arm around my neck in his stupid, yet childish and playful manner of his. "Don't deny it, it's written all over your face." Of course, I felt my cheeks heat up even more. "So, who was the lucky guy that had the honor to see you in your birthday suit, huh? Come on," he squeezed me tighter, forcing me to look at him as he continued, "You can tell me, I'm good at keeping secrets-"

"Abarai."

I froze when I heard the all too familiar voice call out to my friend. We both looked over and saw Mr. Kurosaki making his way over to the two of us, his trademark scowl in place. He had his suit coat slung over his shoulder in a very unprofessional way and I could see some slight baggage under his eyes as he looked at us with a raised eyebrow.  
My heart picked up when his eyes scanned over mine.

"Abarai," he said again when he was close enough to us. Renji —finally- let me go and looked up at Mr. Kurosaki with a friendly smile.

"Ichigo, you look like shi— crap, too! Don't tell me, you have a hangover, too? Never knew you were a heavy drinker," Renji teased his old friend. Yes, my best friend and my boss were really good friends as well, they'd been friends since... high school, I think. In fact, if it wasn't for Renji, I wouldn't have had this job in the first place. He was the one who put in a good word for me. Usually, a rooky like myself wouldn't even have had a chance to get hired into a company such as this one.

But thanks to Renji, I was able to get hired in as Ichigo Kurosaki's secretary.

"What did I tell you about professionalism? We're here to work, not chitchat about whatever nonsense that comes to mind. Go back to your cubical and leave Miss Yui alone," he said quite sternly. He wasn't in a good mood, I could just tell.

"Whatever you say, Ichigo," Renji snickered as he walked passed Mr. Kurosaki with a large smile on his face. Why was he so happy? That bastard.

"And how many times do I have to tell you to call me by my last name?"

Yep. He was mad. Usually, when it was just the two of them, he wouldn't mind if Renji referred to him by his first name.

So, something was up, and I had a feeling it had something to do with me. No. Not a feeling, I knew his mood was because of me.

When Renji was out of sight, Mr. Kurosaki finally turned toward me. When he opened his mouth to speak, I prepared myself for the worse.

"Did you look over yesterday's proposals yet?"

I sat there dumbfounded. His words slowly began to register in my head as he looked down toward me expectantly. When I didn't answer right away, he spoke up, "Well?"

"Um… erm, yes — yes I did, there right here." I stood up and handed him a vanilla envelope that I had sitting on my desk. "Out of all twenty-five, these ten seemed to be the most proficient on what we are looking for."

He opened up the envelope and looked through the stack of papers that were enclosed in it. "Only ten?" he murmured with disappointment. "Thought there would be more."

"The other fifteen didn't stack up…" and our conversation continued like normal.

Maybe - he didn't remember. If he was drunk enough to pass out before making one of the biggest mistakes in his life, then he was probably drunk enough to forget everything after we'd left the party together.

Then, maybe, just maybe, I was in the clear. Maybe I could forget everything that had happened last night and just continue with my job like a normal person.

Maybe…

"Oh, and Rei," he turned back around from walking into his office door and threw something to me. "You left this at my apartment."

Before I could register what he'd just said, I caught the fabric of my purple undershirt I wore to the party last night. I could feel the color draining from my face as I looked back up at Mr. Kurosaki, he was walking into the office, and for a second I could have sworn I saw a small, flustered blush forming on his cheeks.

* * *

Author's Note: Tell me what you guys think. Yes? No? Maybe so? lol.


End file.
